Club Sports News

Flames rise to No. 7 in this week's ACHA Division I ranking

October 25, 2013 | Lynchburg, Va.

Liberty sophomore defenseman Steven Bellew skates the puck up ice during last Friday night's 2-1 triumph over Davenport at the LaHaye Ice Center.

Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team, which started the season where it ended last year, ranked No. 13 in the nation, moved up for the third consecutive week to No. 7 in this week's fifth ACHA Division I rankings.

For the first time this week, the rankings switched from a coaches poll to a computer-based system, which will be used for the remainder of the season and determine the 20 teams that qualify for the March 6-11 ACHA DI National Championships, hosted by Delaware at the Fred Rust Ice Arena in Newark, Del.

The Blue Hens, who moved up one spot to No. 6 in this week's rankings, will receive an automatic bid to nationals along with champions from the Central States Collegiate Hockey League, College Hockey Mid-America, Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association, Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League, Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League, and Northeast Collegiate Hockey League.

The Flames (10-1) moved up two more positions in the rankings after winning back-to-back games against Davenport, which dropped from No. 12 to No. 14 and are now one of three teams in the country with 10 wins. The other two are Arizona State (10-0), which overtook defending ACHA DI national champion Minot State (6-0) at No. 1 — where it had stayed since last year's final poll — and Iowa State (10-1-1), which remained at No. 5.

Liberty will fly to Arizona to face the Sun Devils on Jan. 16 before hosting them Jan 24-25. The Flames will host Delaware Nov. 8 and 9 before traveling to play the Blue Hens Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

Next week's sixth ACHA DI regular-season ranking will be released on Tuesday.